Lately, I’ve been feeling drained. I haven’t taken time off work in two years. By some miracle, we just hired someone competent enough to take some of the workload off our small department. My boss suggested I use up some vacation time. I hated flying so that limited my options. I didn’t ski so that narrowed down my choices to almost nothing. Was there really nothing local? Would I be doomed to spend two weeks doing nothing at my place?
I started to mindlessly scroll through vacation suggestions at work. An ad for a cabin caught my eye. It was near the local ski resort but wasn’t attached to them. The photos made it look almost too good to be true. A massive cozy log cabin empty and ready waiting in the middle of a beautiful winter forest. And the price was good. I let myself think of sitting by a warm fire reading the backlog of books I’ve had piling up for years. Since I had no better ideas, I booked the cabin.
By the end of the week, I had my bags packed. Driving down the one-lane forest road wasn’t as troublesome as I thought it was going to be. The cabin’s address wasn’t on my GPS. Thankfully the road was a straight path to my destination. I expected to see some wildlife on the way. Not even a small bird flew between the trees during the entire ride. At least it was quiet.
The photos didn’t do the cabin justice. It was far more breathtaking in person. I wondered how I got a location like this for so cheap. Someone had been there recently to shovel a pathway and remove the snow off the front stairs. But I didn’t see any footprints. It took a few trips to haul all my bags into the place. I was glad someone maintained the walkway or else I could have broken my neck.
It was cold inside. I wasted no time turning on the heat and starting a fire. I then checked out the kitchen to make sure I had enough food for the week. I mostly packed snacks so I might need to take a trip into town. To my shock, the pantry was stocked with a note saying I could help myself. Really, how did I get so lucky with this place?
The drive hadn’t been very long and yet I collapsed on the couch in front of the fire. The years of hard work caught up to me. I made sure the fire had enough wood to keep it going for a few hours then curled up under some heavy blankets for a short nap.
My short nap turned into sleeping till the middle of the night. A noise dragged me out of my dreams. The fire had died down and my stomach hurt from hunger. I got up to get the fire started again when the noise came back. Someone was knocking at the cabin door.
I froze scared for some reason. I felt more tired than I did before my nap. I wrapped my arms around myself trying to keep away the chill. Should I answer the door? There shouldn’t be any reason why someone would be in the middle of the woods at this time of the night. At first, I assumed the person who knocked was dangerous. Then I realized they could have just broken in and not knocked first. Still, I grabbed the iron fire poker before I went to the door.
“Hello?” I called out.
“Oh! Hello! I got a bit lost. Can you tell me if there is a town nearby?” A female voice came from behind the door. My hand started to reach for the handle, then I considered she might have a tougher male friend waiting to charge the door when my defenses were down.
“Yes, there is one down the main road.” I said wondering how she got here if she hadn’t used the only road up.
“Road? Oh, I see your tire tracks. Maybe I could follow them. Hey, are you alright in there or do you need help getting out?” She asked as if that question was normal.
What the hell was she talking about? A fierce chill shot down my back. I opened my mouth to respond but movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I could see some windows in the living room from where I stood. It was pitch dark outside. A white shape started to appear in that darkness. My heart froze as a pale face got closer to the window. The ghoulish appearance was something made of nightmares. A wide black smile pressed against the glass. The dark eyes made contact with my own, then a loud banging came from the front door. I nearly jumped out of my skin. When I looked back the face in the window was gone.
I ran to where I left my cell phone. The damn thing refused to turn on. The banging still echoed through the entire cabin as my shaking hands plugged the charging cord into my phone. Still nothing. I then ran around making sure every door was locked. As I went by the windows I briefly saw more of those pale faces outside. What the hell was going on?
I noticed something at the top of one of the kitchen windows. I reach over to grab a cord. A wooden set of shutters slid out from under the wall and locked at the bottom. I’m sure if someone tried hard enough, they could get through the shutter, but at least it was an extra layer of protection.
I found out all the windows had these shutters. The banging sound grew quieter each time I covered a window. I even ran upstairs to lock up the ones in the bedrooms just in case. While I raced around, I kept hearing that female voice offering help and telling me to just go outside. Like hell I would ever do that.
When the last window had been covered the noises from outside stopped. I soon found out none of the landline phones worked. My cellphone refused to turn on no matter what I tried. I was safe inside the cabin but trapped. Could I wait out whoever, or whatever was outside?
I had enough food for the week. My boss knew where I was going so when I didn’t come back, he would call the police. Right? I didn’t want to wait this out for a week. I wanted to get the hell out of here now.
I got the fire going again. A chill got into my body and down to my bones. I knew I needed to keep my strength up, so I ate some of the snacks while I sat shaking on the couch, iron fire poker within arm’s reach. For some reason, I started to feel exhausted. Soon I couldn’t keep my eyes open and fell asleep even though I was still scared out of my mind.
I woke up in a cold cabin. I couldn’t tell what time it was. There were no clocks, and my phone was still dead. I didn’t dare risk opening the shutters to see what time of day it was outside. I’ve never felt this cold in my life. I piled on layers of clothing. Not even the fireplace or turning the heat up to the max helped get rid of the chill. A scratchy feeling came to the back of my throat. I was getting sick on top of everything else.
I needed to warm up. To my disappointment, the shower only had slightly warm water. I almost felt colder after a quick shower. My stomach churned. The snacks from the night before weren’t sitting well. I tried to make a can of soup, but my body rejected it. I found my way back to the couch and under a pile of blankets. I felt awful. In the short time since I’d woken up, my health did a major downward spiral. Soon I felt too sick to do anything but sleep for another few hours.
What time was it when I woke back up? I had no idea. A soft knocking sound made me stir. I heard a low voice but couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Slowly I started towards the door. My body hurt too much from fever and chills to pick up my weapon.
“You need to get out of there.” The female voice from before whispered. “Come out here. I’ll help you.”
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see it.
“Don’t lie. I know you have others with you.” I hissed; my voice raspy from my illness.
“Others? Is that what you saw? You sound awful. I don’t know if you’ll last more than a day or so inside there.”
What was she talking about? Was she suggesting that somehow, I was sick because I was inside the cabin? No. She was just trying to say anything to get me outside. But still, I wanted to trust her because I was scared. I crept to the nearest window to unlock the shutter. I opened it just enough to see out of. My eyes hurt from the blinding snow outside. When they adjusted to the light, I started to scan the trees looking for any signs of the creatures from last night. There weren’t any tracks in the snow. Had I just been seeing things?
A dark shape moved from between the trees. Then another. More appeared somehow aware I was looking outside. Within seconds countless twisted and misshapen human forms started to come from the forest. Some were dragged behind the bodies of animals they killed, the monster’s mouths covered with blood. If I went outside, I would be eaten next.
Suddenly, a human face appeared just outside the window. A young woman with green eyes and red hair smiled at me. For a moment the fear left. She looked so friendly I almost considered going outside with her. Then, her wide smile started to get wider.
I slammed the shutter down locking it. I didn’t know what those monsters were, or why they hadn’t gotten inside yet. For now, I was safe inside the cabin. The horrors were outside, and they needed to stay like that. The girl pleaded with me to come outside. I tried to ignore her.
The illness started to get worse. Soon I found myself unable to stand for long. I once again made my way to my safe space on the couch. My mind was muddled with a sudden fever making it impossible to think. Before I passed out, I heard the girl outside speak once more.
“I’ll somehow get you out here.”
How long did I sleep? I didn’t know. I couldn’t move. My throat hurt. My body hurt. I could barely keep my eyes open. Was this how I died? Alone in the middle of nowhere? I didn’t even like cabins so why did I come here? I could have read all those books at home.
Another banging noise woke me. This time it was different. I also smelled smoke. But I didn’t remember the last time I got up to add to the fire. A burst of energy came to my body as I stood up trying to understand what was happening. To my horror, I saw smoke pouring out from through the shutters. I quickly realized the cabin was on fire. The flames hadn’t reached inside yet but if I didn’t get out soon, I would die from the smoke.
I coughed, the air quickly becoming dense. I started to make my way to the front door, but then my body stopped. For some reason, I couldn’t control my actions. A groaning sound came from the walls. It almost sounded like a scream. Tears stung my eyes as I was forced to watch my body move away from freedom.
I ended up in the kitchen. Someone else was there. It was hard to see her full features because of the thick air. She was coughing as well.
“Come on! You’ll die in here!” She shouted.
The back door had been busted open. She held a large hammer in her hand showing how she’d gotten in. I took a few steps closer, but my hand moved on its own. In one swift movement, I grabbed a knife off the counter and attacked her with it.
She backed up but I still sliced a deep cut across her left eye. I wanted to stop. I didn’t want to hurt her. Blood flowed from her wound and to the floor. For some reason, the wood absorbed the liquid leaving no traces.
“Sorry about this.” She said and raised the hammer.
The last thing I remember inside that cabin was a shock of pain against my temple.
I woke up again, cold and throat raw. My body refused to stop shaking. But the fever was gone. I was very weak. For some odd reason, I sat in my car, the cabin in front fully engulfed in flames. A screaming sound came from the building, and I could have sworn I saw a burst of dark smoke come from the flames flying off deep into the woods.
“I called the police, just hold on till then.”
I looked over to see the redhead taking off her jacket to wrap it around my shaking body. I tried to speak but my throat was too dry. She helped me get a sip of water from a bottle she brought along. Her left eye closed from the wound I had given her.
“I’m sorry.” I croaked.
“Don’t worry about it. My eye is fine, and I’ll have a neat scar.” She replied with a smile.
“The cabin…” I started then coughed.
“Yeah, it was draining your life force and stuff like that. I’m glad I got to you in time. You’ll recover in a few weeks. Anyway, I gotta go. Later gator.”
I couldn’t stop her. I wanted to thank her or to find out her name. But she left not wanting to stick around for when the police showed up.
I was admitted to the hospital. When I was able there was a round of questioning. I didn’t have a lot of answers. There was a shell of a burned-down cabin, but there hadn’t been any registered in the area. The road that led to the cabin disappeared before the police showed up. It was a miracle they got through the woods to find me. I said I had rented the cabin through an online ad, but there hadn’t been any charge on my credit card. And I couldn’t find the ad again. They were puzzled but lacked any clues to go forward.
I’ve heard whispers that people had started to disappear inside those woods. A year ago, two bodies had been found inside the shell of a house that should not have been in the forest. They had been within walking distance of a town. No one understood why they let themselves starve to death inside an abandoned home.
I needed a few weeks off work to recover. At least my boss was good about it. I was thankful I had lived through the worst vacation anyone could ever take. But not having answers bothered me. I really wanted to thank that strange girl who saved me. I wanted to tell my story mostly to warn others there was something unnatural lurking off in the forest.
There are some dark things in this world. And there are some decent people too. Let’s hope you never come across darkness without some light appearing to guide your way out.